It came as a shock to many that other Senators like Rand Paul or Mike Lee weren’t at the top of the list. That’s because it all comes down to how you define conservative.

In another list published this week, the American Conservative Union takes a very different take, putting Paul and Sen. Marco Rubio at the top of their own list, which includes 40 House and Senate Republicans.

In the Senate, Rubio and Paul, who are both seen as possible 2016 presidential contenders, were awarded the Defenders of Liberty designation, receiving a “perfect 100 percent” score on their voting records, Politico reports.

So you will be as surprised as I was to find that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader with a history of undermining conservatives in the Senate, has a 100% score for 2012 — higher, in fact, that either Jim DeMint or Tom Coburn.

I had to laugh. …

I guess if ACU wants to ignore that Mitch McConnell

voted to keep the Essential Air Service program that conservatives annually ridicule as a waste;